* games-arcade/blobwars
Latest version available: 0.99
Latest version installed: 0.99
Size of downloaded files: [no/bad digest]
Homepage: http://www.parallelrealities.co.uk/blobWars.php
Description: Platform game about a blob and his quest to rescue MIAs from an alien invader

Linux support for games is fine (if you have a card with good drivers) but the linux support of games is not really super

Quote:

Cedega I believe gets better, but I don't know. WINE itself isn't so good at games though.

wine plays most games cedega runs, cedega has only has better direct3d 8/9 support and has some copyprotection support wine hasnt got_________________In "old" Europe we already have a word for "pre-emptive strikes" mr Bush: its called "war"

Posted: Tue Dec 07, 2004 10:07 pm Post subject: Re: How good is game support in Linux these days?

DrWoland wrote:

Do all those windows emulators actually work decently?

In my opinion, no, they don't, and they are very far from working decently. I doubt they ever will - native games like NWN and Doom3 are the future of gaming in Linux.
With few exceptions like GTA:VC, getting games to run under Linux is a pain in the ass, even if you're using a Loki installer. For newer games, performance is below acceptable. I've only succesfully played MP games with Counter-Strike, but since Cheating-Death doesn't quite work, it is useless. I suspect other games have similar problems.

I respect people who put work at wine, but wine is more proof of concept than anything usable when it comes to gaming.
Cedega is just a rip-off, worst money I ever spent._________________Hello.

Just to pass on a few tidbits, WINE D3D support is undergoing a major overhaul. Not sure how long it will take to get something better than the current version, though. FWIW, I was hanging out in #wine-hackers last night and someone said they were close to getting WoW working._________________Catch me on Jabber: joeljkp@jabber.org

Is there a noticeable trend of developers taking the time to cater to Linux users?

Not really. Developers do what they're paid to do and gaming companies don't see Linux gaming as being lucrative enough in the short run to be worthwhile.
You will notice that the only games that are ported over to Linux in earnesty (UT2003/4, Doom3, Quake 4) are games the industry can count on being played for a long time. A few months ago people were still buying copies of Q3A. That's why Quake 4 is going to be ported to Linux. Doom was open sourced a long time ago and people built tons of modifications like FreeDoom.

Is there a noticeable trend of developers taking the time to cater to Linux users?

Not really. Developers do what they're paid to do and gaming companies don't see Linux gaming as being lucrative enough in the short run to be worthwhile.
You will notice that the only games that are ported over to Linux in earnesty (UT2003/4, Doom3, Quake 4) are games the industry can count on being played for a long time. A few months ago people were still buying copies of Q3A. That's why Quake 4 is going to be ported to Linux. Doom was open sourced a long time ago and people built tons of modifications like FreeDoom.

Hmm yeah that's kind of what I was thinking, but still - thats 3 major game creators that are Linux friendly - better than nothing. Hopefully Valve will get off their ass and get HL2 done as well, that would probably be a good idea. Perhaps if WoW is successful, Blizzard will also follwo through.

Yeah HL2 could really benefit from being ported to Linux, only the last one had some major DirectX dependencies if my memory serves me right. I myself only play native Linux games since I no longer use Windows on my desktop, period, and I'm not about to go fooling around with Cedega or whatever to emulate a Win32 app when I have UT2004 or a free game easily available right away.

I really wish manufacturers would wake up and notice the incredible benefits of running native Linux games. In Linux you can build your own networking protocols (major plus for servers!). In Linux you have much more efficient memory management. X actually renders faster than Windows. In Linux you don't have a fucking registry slowing the entire system down after installing those dozen applications you can't live without. And the entire system is based on a modular, customizable structure that allows for unlimited flexibility and makes no problem unsolvable.

Yeah HL2 could really benefit from being ported to Linux, only the last one had some major DirectX dependencies if my memory serves me right. I myself only play native Linux games since I no longer use Windows on my desktop, period, and I'm not about to go fooling around with Cedega or whatever to emulate a Win32 app when I have UT2004 or a free game easily available right away.

I really wish manufacturers would wake up and notice the incredible benefits of running native Linux games. In Linux you can build your own networking protocols (major plus for servers!). In Linux you have much more efficient memory management. X actually renders faster than Windows. In Linux you don't have a fucking registry slowing the entire system down after installing those dozen applications you can't live without. And the entire system is based on a modular, customizable structure that allows for unlimited flexibility and makes no problem unsolvable.

/ (anti-Windows && pro-Linux) soapbox

Hopefully with the major dogs nodding at Linux, the smaller developers will follow in their footsteps.

I really wish manufacturers would wake up and notice the incredible benefits of running native Linux games.

But what is the incredible benefit for the companies? How much more millions would the game industry do? Note that they measure benefit in dollars only. And the Linux market is just too small to be of importance. Windows still has a market share on the desktop of something around 95%. Look at what happened to Loki.

Windows is good enough for games. Better memory management etc. are no reason for a game manufactures to switch, imo. Big money is. And until a Linux port comes at zero extra dollars or Linux will get a market share similar to Windows today and will be preinstalled on most computers, Windows will still be the best game platform.

UT2003, UT2004, Doom3 are all running natively, and these are very important engines upon which many commercial games and mods will be based, and these will ofc automatically work on Linux (just switch paks).
Q3 works so RTCW/ET works too, enemy-territory is a free emerge, it's a great fps

I really wish manufacturers would wake up and notice the incredible benefits of running native Linux games.

But what is the incredible benefit for the companies? How much more millions would the game industry do? Note that they measure benefit in dollars only. And the Linux market is just too small to be of importance. Windows still has a market share on the desktop of something around 95%. Look at what happened to Loki.

Windows is good enough for games. Better memory management etc. are no reason for a game manufactures to switch, imo. Big money is. And until a Linux port comes at zero extra dollars or Linux will get a market share similar to Windows today and will be preinstalled on most computers, Windows will still be the best game platform.

You are completely right. They are businesses and when it comes down to the bottom line, the money is what they are after. However Linux is groing and with Windows stagnating and the release of Longhorn years from now, perhaps our numbers will increase.

Its a vicious cycle, no support, no use, and that plagues Linux. Hopefully a company will have the foresight to see beyond monetary value and start to become a pioneer.